From Memory
by MsGingerMoose
Summary: A series of extended flashbacks including Flack, Danny, Mac and OCs from my previous story, Never Eat Red Snow.
1. Super Bro!

**Ahoy there! Whilst writing Never Eat Red Snow, I had an idea for extending the flashbacks in my story cus they were fun! =D And I missed Ellie, my little OC...So if some of it sounds familiar its cus I took what I had written from the previous story and built around it ;)**

**--**

Rain was pounding heavily on New York City. Gales were howling and Ellie Flack was finding it difficult to sleep. Not only were the branches of the old oak tree in the garden battering off her window, she had an important maths test in the morning. Not to mention her father was working late. She always got nervous when he worked the graveyard shift - the city was so much more dangerous at night. A light tap on her bedroom door roused her from her worrying . She looked up from the book she had been absentmindedly flicking through, to see her brother Don, leaning on the door handle.

"Hey Ell, what are you still doing up?" Don's dark uniform shirt was unbuttoned and he pulled his belt out of his trousers.

"School tomorrow, I got a maths test to see whether I can go on and do it in senior year. That and you know how I get about dad. I'm glad you're home safe though."

Don had not long graduated from the police academy. That along with their father's promotion to deputy chief of the drugs squad, meant that the Flack family could afford to move into small detached house in the suburbs.

"How are you enjoying the new room?" There was still a hint of fresh paint about the house.

"I've been waiting 16 and a half years for my own room! And when I finally get one, its a shoe box!" Ellie replied, to Don's amusement.

"Yeah, but its your little shoe box and no more sharing with Joel."

"I do love Mom's theory that now I'm a 'young woman' I _must _have my own space." Ellie grinned. The two other children in the family, Carmine and Joel, were sharing the loft room and Don had his own rather small bedroom too.

"Alright, I'm exhausted. You get some sleep. Good night."

"Night Donnie." Don walked down the hall and into his own room. Stripping down to his boxers he climbed under his covers and switched off his lamp.

---

Don woke with a start a short time later, not quite sure what had caused him to jump. A scream caused him to sit upright. Had it come from inside the house? The wind blasting around the house made it hard to tell. He glanced at his bedside cabinet. His gun was in the top drawer. Hardly making a sound, he slipped out of bed and pulled open the drawer.

Down the hall and Ellie had awoken too. A cold panic had flooded her body. That distant scream sounded awfully like her mother. Before she could summon the courage to get out of bed a dark figure burst into her room and she let out a scream of her own. An icy cold hand had a grip of her arm as the masked man dragged her from her bed and out into the hall. Ellie was suddenly aware of something jabbing into her back. A sharp point pricking her skin.

"Anymore noise and I'll stick this in your throat." The unknown man muttered in a heavy eastern European accent. His nails dug into the top of Ellie's arm and she was sure he was drawing blood. Don had made it out of his room without a sound and rounded the corner to find his sister stumbling as a man pulled her towards the stairs.

Ellie and her captor were almost at the top of the stairs when they both heard a loud click. The man stopped dead. There was no mistaking the sound of a revolver being cocked.

"You take your hands off my sister, right now." The man heaved a sigh and threw Ellie to the floor and turned around with his hands up. Don stood confidently, despite being in nothing but his boxers. "Come on." he said reaching his right hand out to Ellie, who took it and scrambled behind her brother. "Drop the knife." he added and the intruder did so. Ellie's breaths had slowed greatly, but she gasped as she heard another frantic scream from downstairs.

"Mom!" Ellie cried out and Don looked away for a split second. The man took his chance and threw himself at Don. The gun flew past Ellie as the man punched her brother hard in the stomach. Ellie stared between the knife and the gun as the two men grappled on the floor. Just as she went to pick both weapons up, the front door flew open and there was a surge of uniformed, shouting men. It seemed half of the NYPD had showed up at the house. They had the men in cuffs in no time and Ellie found herself ushered downstairs as Don explained what had happened to his colleagues.

---

"Thank God for that silly panic button your father had installed." Carmella said as she held her daughter a few minutes later. Ellie shook in her mother's embrace. She had been so scared that the men would have hurt her family. Don approached them with another police officer.

"This is Joey." Don introduced the man who looked a few years older than him.

"Mrs Flack." he shook her hand. "And you must be Ellie, its a pleasure to finally meet you both."

"You're his partner right?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah, I'm stuck with this guy day in, day out." Joey grinned and Don shoved him playfully. "Anyway, these guys who came into your home were Russian mafia. Detective Flack bust a lot of their guys a few weeks ago, so we think this was some sort of payback plan."

Carmella made a small noise in shock and clasped onto Ellie once more. "Do you think we should still be worried?"

"No ma'am. These two were the last powerful guys we were looking for. When they did this, they really did us a huge favour in catching them."

"He's right, Ma." Don placed a hand on her shoulder. "Besides, if Dad isn't here, most of the time, I will be. You got nothing to worry about." He smiled at his sister, who was still shivering.

"That's right, Donnie. If it wasn't for you..." Ellie paused. Hundreds of worst case scenarios had unfolded horribly in her mind. "...Well, you saved us, thank you..."


	2. Demonstration

**Thank you Lily for your review and thank you Kate, for proof reading/squeeing! =D**

---

Ellie's heart was still pounding as hard as it had been when she had received a phone call she wished she hadn't. She pelted down the terminal of Miami International, having just managed to book herself on a early evening flight to New York. The woman who had called her hotel room had been friendly, making sure she was Miss Flack. But the second she mentioned she was a nurse from the New York Downtown Hospital and Don's name, Ellie wanted to hang up. People from hospitals never called you on your spring break with good news.

"We couldn't get a hold of your parents, and you were listed as his next of kin after them. We found a copy of your hotel number in his wallet."

"They're out of the country. In France. My brothers live much further away than me."

There had been an explosion. Don had been hurt trying to evacuate a building. It was serious. Ellie ran those details over and over as she had raced from Key West to the airport. She soon found herself seated on a plane, her seat belt clipped and her eyes closed against tears that threatened to fall. Emotional and physical turbulence followed in the few hours the jet took to get Ellie home.

---

Cabs were unusually scarce at JFK. Traffic on the streets was not. Ellie threw a few notes at the cab driver and strode quickly into the hospital lobby. She flew up several flights of stairs and down squeaky clean corridors to the ICU. It was late, the lights were low and the entire building was strangely silent and still. Ellie could feel sweat on the back of her neck and forehead as her chest became tight with her increasing unease. What would Don look like? She hadn't been given details of injuries and she hadn't really wanted them. But now her imagination was running wild and it was taking too long to get to her brother. She just wanted to make sure the terrible images flashing in her mind were unfounded and that as usual she was over thinking and being paranoid.

"If you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

"Squeeze my hand Don."

All that rushing and Ellie had come to an abrupt halt before she had reached her destination. There was a man sitting at her brother's side. Until he had spoken he was nothing but a shadowy outline. Mac Taylor had her brother's hand in his as he muttered quietly in his ear. After a few seconds of dazed staring Ellie swept into the room, grabbing onto the bottom bar of the bed to keep her balance. Mac started a little and look of deep sympathy filled his eyes at seeing Ellie's desperate expression. Before he could get to his feet and ask if she was alright, she spoke.

"Did he squeeze it? Your hand, did he?" Ellie's gaze hadn't moved from her brother's. He lay completely still, tubes in his mouth, nose and arm. His skin was deathly pale and his face was cut and grazed. Mac placed Flack's hand gently back on the bed and went to Ellie.

"Yes, he did."

Before she realised what was happening, Ellie slumped against Mac's chest and he wrapped her in his strong, sure arms. Tears were silently streaming down her face. How had Donnie managed to get himself into this state?

"_Doing his job_." A voice told her. His job. If he hadn't been doing it, a lot of people could have died. She suddenly thought that there could have been other casualties and pulled away from Mac.

"Was anyone else hurt?" Ellie asked. She noticed a bandage on Mac's neck.

"Minor injuries really, we managed to get most of the employees out. Don just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. He took a lot of shrapnel."

Ellie glanced back over to her brother. The hospital gown was a crisp, white veneer to the devastation on his body. Mac pressed his handkerchief into Ellie's hand and she nodded gratefully before going to sit at her brother's side.


	3. Party

Don Flack pulled off his tie and loosened a few buttons at the top of his light blue shirt. A shirt that had been crisp and bright before he started his 8 - which turned into 12 - hour shift at work. This was his attempt at getting changed for his great aunt's 78th birthday party, which he was already late for. He checked his hair in the rear view mirror of his SUV before lifting the lapels of his navy suit jacket and sniffing inside it. He shrugged to himself thinking he didn't smell so bad having spent the day chasing suspects in the sun and interrogating them in the stuffy NYPD building. He pulled is notebook from his suit pocket and got out of the car. As he reached the second floor of his aunt's building, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Danny Messer had just sent him a text letting him know he was on his way. A moment or two after Flack rang the doorbell the heavy wooden door opened. His sister Ellie had answered and stood with a beer in hand. Her dark her was straightened, yet she appeared to have put in as much effort into her clothes as Don. She wore a black lace, ruffle front blouse and blue denims. Don also noticed she was in her bare feet.

"I saw you coming." she smiled and handed the bottle to him.

"Thanks. What's that you're drinking?"

"Amaretto, why?"

"Maybe show a little restraint this time? You got an awful habit of getting way too drunk at these family parties."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Jeez, when did you become middle aged?" Don gave his sister a stern look.

"Alright, _Mom,_ I'll try my best. Its not like I have anyone to drink with anyway, since you grew a vagina." She closed the door behind Don and stalked off to the kitchen to find something to eat.

---

20 minutes or so later and Danny had arrived.

"If you're hungry, there will be _plenty_ of food in the kitchen." Flack said, knowing Danny must have had an equally long day as he did.

"Great, I"m starved." The bespectacled detective replied, rubbing his hands together. He headed towards the doorway Flack had pointed out.

"Hey, if you see my sister in there, remind her she's not to get hammered!"

---

Danny entered the brightly lit kitchen to find it empty except for Ellie. She was perched on the counter next to the sink, shoveling pretzels into her mouth.

"Danny! Hey!" she said thickly and continued to chew. She reached out to him, her fingers wriggling. He gave a laugh and walked to her, hugging her as tight as she hugged him.

"It's been too long." Danny said as they parted and he surveyed Ellie. Her top was rather see-through and he had to quickly withdraw his gaze before she noticed.

"Pretzel?" she asked, seemingly unaware of Danny's little perv.

He shook his head. "I was actually looking for something a little more substantial." His stomach gave a grumble.

"There's lasagne on the table?" Ellie offered. "Along with an assortment of other homemade delicacies, but I'd avoid the chilli. My cousin Sam made those, she likes to contribute at these gatherings, but she ain't the best cook."

"Alright, lasagne is it then!" Danny said, taking a plate and piling the pasta dish onto it.

---

Once Danny had finished eating, he grabbed a drink from the fridge and hoisted himself onto the kitchen counter beside Ellie. She had a bottle in her hand and filled a small glass from it every so often. She wiped her chin and licked her fingers as she spilled a little of the vibrant alcohol.

"You got good style, Messer." Ellie said with a wink. Not only were his clothes stylish and practical for his job, but his tight, white shirt was making it extremely difficult for Ellie not to stare at his chest. She just _had _to compliment him somehow. "Very rarely do you find a guy who can actually dress himself." She tossed another shot down her throat.

Danny grinned. He thought it was quite a comment coming from a clothes expert.

"And its also very rare to find a girl who drinks the way you do." he replied, taking a swig of his beer from the bottle. She glanced over her black framed glasses at him. Her green eyes sparkled like the stones that were set along the top of them.

"I'm taking that as a compliment, besides, its old aunt Giovanna's 700th birthday. And my family don't exactly throw the most swinging parties." Ellie gazed round the room. "So I've developed a skill of getting wasted and practically passing out in a corner - unnoticed by the way - with some leftover cake."

Danny laughed and shook his head. Ellie was a strange one. She was dorky and funny, yet so knowledgable and mature when she wanted to be. He quite liked the fact that she was incredibly quirky. It was refreshing to know a girl who wasn't scared to be herself.

"Except this time, it looks like I might have a drinking buddy. Care to join me in giggling at nothing in particular? Its not so much fun alone." Ellie held out a sherry glass filled with an acid green liquid. Danny considered for a moment. Flack would most likely kill him, he had already warned Ellie not to get drunk for once. But Ellie's smile got the better of him and he took the glass from her. She gave a triumphant laugh before calling out: "Bottoms up!"

---

A couple of hours and several drinks later and Ellie was singing along rather too loudly to 'Happy Birthday". Danny had spotted Flack peering across the room suspiciously. He gazed at Lily. She was well and truly wasted and he was feeling quite tipsy himself. The second the song was over he approached Don and handed him the keys to his bike and told him he was leaving.

"Don't let me take them, I'll be tempted to ride the bike home." Danny grinned a little.

"Alright man. Have you seen my sister? She wasn't tanked was she?"

"Nah, man. She's fine." Flack stared at Danny. Danny raised his eyebrows questioningly. He knew he was trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or not.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Flack patted Danny's shoulder and turned back to talking to his cousin.

Danny headed straight to the corner Ellie was reclined in and grabbed her hand. "C'mon, I'm getting you home before your brother starts a riot."

"What?" Ellie stumbled a little as Danny pulled her to her feet.

"Where the hell are your shoes?"

"I don't want to go yet, I haven't had any cake!"

Danny turned and took Ellie's hand. "Seriously, we're leaving. Now, please try remember where you left your shoes."

---

Ellie's black, flat, dolly shoes were finally located behind a potted ficus that was near the front door and Danny had taken her hand again as she stumbled down the stairs to the street.

"You have such soft skin." Ellie giggled, intertwining her fingers with Danny's. "Oooh! Can we go on your bike?! Man, I really want cake."

Danny turned to Ellie with a grin. He shook his head. "Thank you and no we can't go on my bike - I've had a few drinks."

Ellie opened her mouth to protest, but Danny held his free hand up.

"And, if you're not too hung over tomorrow lunchtime, I will take you out for some cake."

A huge grin spread across the short brunette's face. "Really, Danny?!"

He nodded in response. "Now come on." He said, putting an arm around Ellie's shoulders. "I better get you home."

"You promise, we can hang out and get cake?"

"I promise."

---

"You totally saved my butt last night, getting me home. I cannot thank you enough. I was so wrecked. If I'd have stayed at that party Don would have caught me and quite possibly killed me!" Ellie giggled and wiped the cherry red lip gloss mark from Danny's cheek. He smiled his crooked smile as he felt his cheeks tingle pink.

"Uh, no problem. Couldn't let 'Doris' as you were referring to him, read you the riot act for having a bit of fun."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that! So we gonna stand at this subway all day or are we going to eat? I'm starved."

"I believe I promised you some cake, there's a great little bakery just round the corner, we could grab a table outside since its such a nice day?"

The azure sky was almost completely cloudless and there was a light breeze gently blowing hair and clothes of those in the street.

"Sounds good! Lead the way, young man!" Ellie smiled and linked arms with her friend.


	4. Club DNA

"God dammit Adam! Where the hell are you?" Danny thought to himself as he realised his friend had been gone for rather a long time. He was leaning against a pillar in Club DNA. It was Adam's birthday and he had chosen it. Danny had called him a complete dork, but he'd convinced him to go after he explained the music was good and the booze was cheap. But that booze seemed to be taking an awfully long time to get to him. Adam had disappeared off to the bar leaving Danny to hang out alone at the edge of the dance floor. He downed what was left of his beer and clunked the bottle down on a nearby ledge. A couple of rather scantily clad - even in Danny's opinion - girls spotted him do so and smirked and waved at him. He nodded politely and turned his attention back to the heaving dance floor. Suddenly a face stuck out from all the sweat covered clubbers. A face with a huge grin and brightly coloured make-up that Danny recognised.

"Ellie." he said under his breath and he felt a smile reach his lips. However his ideas of having someone to talk to quickly crumbled. She was in the middle of the floor, amongst a lot of people. He couldn't bare to drag her away from her dancing. She looked like she was really enjoying herself. He settled on just watching her from his spot at the wall. Her hair shining all the colours of the rainbow under the flashing lights. He could almost hear her happy laugh as she whirled around with a her friends. Danny's girlfriend's scathing voice popped into his head as his eyes travelled all over Ellie's body.

"Don't you dare cheat on me." Cindy had said before he left with Adam. She sounded like she was joking, but she wasn't really. Danny thought it was cruel of her to assume he would do that to her, but as he stood watching Ellie Flack have the time of her life, he thought if there was one girl he'd go anywhere near, it would be her.

---

There was still no sign of Adam when Danny spotted a guy talking in Ellie's ear. He saw her raise an eyebrow at him and turn back to her friends. Clearly she didn't want to talk to him. Danny followed Ellie's curls as she disappeared into the crowd, heading for the bar.

"Fuck this!" Danny said to himself. He was sick of waiting, plus if he went looking for Adam at the bar, he'd no doubt meet Ellie there too. He quickly found Adam, talking animatedly to a girl with long, bright green hair and a lot of tattoos. He spotted the whiskey he'd ordered and a blue cocktail on the bar next to the birthday boy, the ice almost melted away. Adam's eyes widened as he noticed Danny heading his way.

"Neva mind, Cupcake. I'll get my own." The detective said, as he passed Adam with a punch to his upper arm. He'd stopped caring, Adam had obviously hit it off with some chick and he thought he might call it a night anyway. At least until he spotted a space at the bar, right next to Ellie. One more drink, then he'd go.

"Good evening Miss Flack." he said in her ear and she started a little.

"Danny! Hey! Jeez, ya scared me!" Ellie replied with a hand clutching her chest. Danny noticed her nails were painted scarlet to match the colour of her vibrant lipstick. She was the same height as him in her heels.

"So who you here with?" he asked.

"Friends from college. Girl's night out to celebrate the end of our exams."

"Nice, can I get you a drink?"

"Uh thanks, but Frankie's getting this round." Ellie indicated her friend who was leaning over the bar ordering from the tender. Danny eventually got served and Ellie soon had her hands on a bright purple cocktail.

"I better get back to it." she said, sipping through the straw in the tall glass. "Gimme a text sometime soon and we can hang out." Danny nodded as Ellie melted back into the crowd.

---

After losing sight of both of his friends and nursing his drink for rather a long time, Danny decided to call it quits. He'd only had two drinks and if he didn't have anymore he wouldn't have to shell out for a cab home. He dug his motorcycle keys out of his jeans pocket and went to collect his leather jacket. Once outside the club, Danny flipped open his phone intent on texting Ellie when he heard her voice.

"Where the hell did you go, Frankie?!" Ellie was on her phone. "No I'm not going with them...the dude hanging all over me was creepy and frankly, I think the other dude, Greg is it?...is on something...._Fine_ I'm outside." Ellie tossed her phone into her bag and wrapped her arms around herself as she shivered slightly in the cool night air. Just as Danny went to head over to her from his bike, her group of friends emerged from the club accompanied by several guys, including the one Danny had seen Ellie brush off.

"Let's go Ellie! We're going back to Johnny's for a party." A blonde girl said with a high pitched giggle. The girl's all started down the street and Ellie called after them.

"I don't wanna. I'm just gonna go home." As she made to walk the opposite direction, the same guy came up behind her and grabbed her arm.

"Aw don't be like that sweetie, I'd really love it if you'd come back to mines with me." He was practically drooling all over her and Danny rose from his perch on his bike.

"No thanks." Ellie replied, pulling her arm from his grip.

"C'mon, Johnny V's used to getting what he wants, and what I want is you."

"I said 'no'." Ellie said more firmly this time. Danny was quickly striding towards Ellie as the guy grabbed her by both arms and started pulling her down the pavement.

"You're coming, there ain't no point in debating it."

"Get off me!" Ellie yelled, pulling against the guy and doing quite a good job. "Let me go!" Panic had entered her voice.

Seconds later and Danny had intervened. "You need to let go of her and get lost." He pried his fingers from around Ellie's arms and made sure she was behind him.

"Nah, pal. Its you who needs to get lost."

Danny shook his head and laughed through his nose. "If you don't get the hell outta here you're gonna be in a lotta trouble." Danny felt Ellie's hand on the smalls of his back, gripping onto his jacket.

"What do you care?! You her boyfriend or somethin'?!"

"Nah, I'm just a cop." The golden shield in Danny's hand glinted in the yellowy-orange street lights. The dark haired young man suddenly seemed to shrink before them. "Now get going before you lose your friends, little man." Danny nodded up the street. The guy gave them one last glare before scuttling after the others. Ellie gave a very audible sigh and slouched against Danny's back.

"Thank god you were there. I was just considering if one of my stilettos would make a good weapon or not."

"It was nothing, don't worry about it." Danny said as he turned to face Ellie. She threw her arms round his neck and hugged him close.

"No, Messer, I owe you one. Big time."

"How about I give you a ride home. Then you can owe me one?"

Ellie grinned at Danny. "On the Harley?"

"That's an affirmative."

And before Danny knew what was happening, Ellie was dragging him, at a run, to his bike.


End file.
